The Politics of the Oscars

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The Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, and Lincoln, a movie about an Illinois politician has been nominated in 12 categories, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

We thought we’d take a look at how political movies have fared in the past. Since democracy is a recent innovation in human history, we included kings and queens as political figures. Only three movies about politics have won Best Picture, and two of those -- The Last Emperor and The King’s Speech -- were about monarchs. The third, Gandhi, was about a political activist who never held office.

Daniel Day-Lewis is a 1-50 favorite to win Best Actor for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln. Day-Lewis is the second actor nominated for playing Lincoln, after Raymond Massey (who played Lincoln before he was president). He’s the fourth actor nominated for playing an American president. Alexander Knox played Woodrow Wilson, and Frank Langella played Richard Nixon.

The only peformer to win for playing an elected official is Meryl Streep, who portrayed British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

Here’s a rundown of how movies about politics have fared at the Oscars.

BEST PICTURE

WON:

Gandhi 1982

The Last Emperor 1987

The King’s Speech 2010

NOMINATED:

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939

The Great Dictator 1940

Wilson 1944

Julius Caesar 1953

The Lion in Winter 1968

Anne of the Thousand Days 1969

Nicholas and Alexandra 1971

All the President’s Men 1976

Reds 1981

JFK 1991

The Queen 2006

Frost/Nixon 2008

Lincoln 2012

BEST ACTOR

WON:

Charles Laughton, King Henry VIII, The Private Life of Henry VIII 1932/33